Details on the project are sparse. The new MMO would almost certainly use the venerable pen & paper RPG's 4th Edition rules, first released last year. The original Neverwinter Nights, developed by Bioware, was a critical and commercial darling. The 2006 sequel from developer Obsidian was not was well received, but still posted solid sales and reviews. It appears that NWNO was the mystery title Atari had been planning to show at E3 - alongside Champions Online and Ghostbusters - before it withdrew from the show.

Part of what makes this so intriguing is the publisher, Atari (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/tags.php?tag=atari). To say they've had a bad year would be a bit of an understatement. The company has lost it's President (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=8920), sold it's European operations to Namco Bandai (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=8468) and was forced to pull out of E3 (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=8409) due to reported financial problems. The D & D license is one of the few bullets the company has left in the chamber.

Then there's the other elephant in the room. An elephant with the initials of W-O-W. The MMO market is very crowded, and getting more so with every passing month. But the fantasy MMO field in particular is jam packed with contenders. Will the brand recognition of the D & D name be enough to make it stand out in the crowded field? And can Cryptic Studios handle developing three fairly high profile MMOs at the same time?

Either way, this seems to connect to the news that D & D Online is moving to a free-play model (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=9326).